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I don't know how many times I've read all of the published Dresden Files so far. I don't know how many times I've read Skin Game since it came out. It's just that I love this series so much and about every character in it. I love the short stories, I love the comic books, and the audiobooks are so good that 'love' seems not enough to express my feelings.

James Marsters is such a great narrator. He could read the phonebook to me and make it the most exciting book on the planet. Just when you think you can't make Skin Game any better he comes along and proves you wrong.

That being said I started 2017 (which is just 5 days old at this point) by listening to Skin Game all over again. And I can still say that my 5 stars stand. ( )

I could withhold a star from my rating due to the absence (on the page; he is mentioned) of my favorite character, but that would be petty, because other than missing Thomas, I loved this book as well as the last few Dresden books. Consequences are further explored (I'm loving the continuing follow-up on decisions made three books ago). Whatever inspired Butcher to write "Dresden Participates In A Heist," it's a delicious departure that doesn't really depart at all from the element that matters most in this series: the characters.

Getting to see Michael again (finally!) is the standout treat of this one for me, as are Butcher's occasional winking tributes to the classic elements of the heist story (including a reference to George Clooney, because of course if Harry were subtle with his allusions he'd no longer be Harry). After the grimness of the last three books, the pace of this one is fun and perhaps needed. Goodman Gray is a fascinating new character I hope to see more of. And the friendship of Michael and Harry, Michael's calling him out on flaws and mistakes, Harry realizing just how wrong-headed he can be (poor guy, that's kind of been a theme for the last few books), leaves me with eager anticipation for the next installment and further character growth. This series has come a long way from its first few installments.

But Thomas had better get some page time in [b:Peace Talks|22249640|Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16)|Jim Butcher|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|40515430]. Just saying. ( )

I always have an overwhelming urge to punch Harry Dresden. I feel like he's gotten better since the beginning, and at least now his friends always call him on his bullshit, but there are still moments when he needs punching. Like with the earring. Like whenever he thinks about some women as a sexual object. This is probably why I laughed my ass off when the whole mpreg thing came up.

Here's why I liked this book: Because I love Michael Carpenter beyond the telling of it and because this book gave Michael quite a bit to do and feel.

Also, this book was a caper. A con. A whole Harry's Eleven kind of thing except for how Harry was by no means in charge. And I do enjoy a caper.

Harry Dresden is a detective, a former cop, a Wizard of the White Council, and Winter Knight to Mab, The Queen of Air and Darkness.

And this is his fifteenth adventure, leaving the reader coming in cold working to figure out a great deal of backstory.

Harry's immediate problem is that he has a magical parasite in his head that is causing terrible headaches and will eventually kill him. There's a limited number of people who can help him, and they're not responding to his messages. Then Mab shows up at his Demonreach lair, with such a deal. She's got a temporary fix for Harry's problem, to allow him to function away from Demonreach so that he can do a little job for her--or rather, for Nicodemus, whom she owes a favor to. If he completes the job successfully and returns alive, then she'll deal permanently with his parasite problem.

Harry hates Nicodemus, but it's not just his life at stake; the parasite will go after everyone he cares about after killing him. He's not happy, well, even less happy, initially, when he finds out he'll be working with a warlock (unlicensed wizard, or something like that), Hannah Ascher, as well as another, even darker, character called Binder. Oh, and his first assignment is to recruit an old acquaintance, Anna Valmont, Anna's a thief, and her skills are going to be needed for this job, which as it happens is burgling the Greek god Hades' private treasure vault.

The writing here is nothing really exceptional, but it's perfectly competent and smooth. The problem is that because this is a Hugo Best Novel nominee, I'm coming into the series at book number fifteen. At this point, the book relies on the fact that everyone reading it knows the major recurring characters and the world they live in--and I don't. And sadly, without the backstory, I don't care. There's nothing here so compelling that I really wanted to keep reading. Regular fans of the series, I've noticed in online reviews, mostly feel very differently, but in a very real sense, we're not reading the same book.

For Lori, Julie, and Mom. You guys really came through for me. Thank you.

First words

There was a ticking time bomb inside my head and the one person I trusted to go in and get it out hadn't shown up or spoken to me for more than a year.

Quotations

But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil, damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness . . . . . . which could obviously be redeemed only by passing through the fiery, cleansing inferno of a wizardly digestive tract.

Last words

Without a word, I took Amoracchius and settled it where I could reach it easily when it was time to stand up.